American Beautyberry
Callicarpa americana
A native shrub grown for astonishing clusters of glossy purple berries that ring its arching stems in fall and feed songbirds into early winter. It's easy in sun or part shade and almost any soil that drains. Fruit forms on new growth, so cut it back hard in late winter for a tidy, heavy-fruiting shrub.
- Mature size
- 5.5 × 4.5 ft
- 1.7 × 1.4 m, tall × wide
- Hardiness
- Zones 6a–10b
- USDA
- Sun
- Full sun to part shade
- Water
- Dry to moist
- Blooms
- Jun–Jul
American Beautyberry at its mature size
A mature American Beautyberry grows 3 to 8 feet tall and 3 to 6 feet wide.
Drawn to scale beside a 5 ft 9 in person. With VeraScape, you see it at this size in your own yard.
Typical mature size, unpruned. Sources: NC State Extension.
Through the year
What American Beautyberry looks like month by month in a typical zone 6–7 garden.
Dormant · Dec–Apr
Bare arching tan stems, a few shriveled purple berries.
In leaf · May–Aug
Loose arching stems with pairs of light green oval leaves, no berries.
Fruit · Sep–Nov
Tight clusters of glossy bright magenta-purple berries ringing the arching stems, leaves yellowing late.
Photos
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Growing American Beautyberry
- Grows well in
- The Southeast.
- Growth rate
- Medium
- Good for
- Small space, foundation planting, specimen, drought tolerant, rain garden, deer resistant, pollinators, and winter interest
- Leaves
- Drops its leaves in winter
- Native to
- Southeastern United States
Spacing
VeraScape spaces plants so their grown canopies just touch. For American Beautyberry, that’s about 4.5 ft apart, center to center.
Place a row in your own yard and VeraScape spaces them at their mature width, so you can see whether they’ll crowd the walk.
See American Beautyberry in your yard before you dig
Visualize it at its true size, alongside the rest of your design.